Into the Fray
by Ophidiophobia
Summary: Heroes aren't the only ones after Ouroboros. Long before the organization was a well-known threat to Sternbild, a team from the Sternbild Police Department was hunting them and hunting hard.


_**A/N:** Nip here~! This is __a follow-up to Information I and Information II. It features our cops, Lucien Joubert and Brad Hatter. Again, no T&B canon characters except an allusion to Barnaby. _

_Enjoy anyways~!_

Four sightings in one night. Damn, that bastard stayed busy, didn't he...

Of course, this didn't surprise the sergeant in the least. What did surprise him was that the target had last been seen at a bar downtown. Perhaps he just needed a drink after a long night of work? Lucien scoffed at the thought. Drinking alcohol was _too human_ for Alexei. He would sooner go home and drink the blood of children and kittens, surely.

Nights like this were rare. Usually, hunting Ouroboros consisted of sitting behind a desk or looking through archives at old crimes and searching for connections in things long past and people long gone. But nights like this reminded him that Ouroboros was still very much alive, still very active, still so infinite. Even rarer were encounters with Alexei. "Blackbird," as his associates were known to call him, and how many at the station referred to him as well. But those few and far between nights were eventful – always a massacre.

Not that it ever helped. Other than mass amounts of blood and destruction, Alexei rarely left signs of his presence. Even when he did, actual DNA or fingerprint evidence was rare. He was in their database, sure, but even so that did not make him catchable. The man was like hot running water. He slipped through their fingers and all but evaporated, but not before leaving a scalding burn and a lot of red.

Just thinking about the man had Lucien's foot weighing that much heavier on the accelerator, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel, leaving his bony knuckles ghost white. They couldn't be far from the location. A whole team was behind him this time. He wouldn't get away. This wouldn't be just another waste of gas, another waste of time, another wild goose chase, another _nothing. _He was getting sick of these failures resulting in being _just that much too slow..._

"Lu, ease up on the gas."

"What?"

"I said ease up! Slow down. You're gonna have us in a pretzel around a tree."

"..." After a second, the sergeant lifted his foot from the accelerator slowly, but his grip on the wheel held fast.

"Not to mention, if you beat everyone else there you'll just have to wait and then you'll get impatient and do something stupid."

Lucien turned and shot a sharp glance at the man in the passenger seat. Flustered blue eyes locked with calm green ones. Lucien sighed and turned back to the road. "If we don't catch him this time," the dark-haired man murmured, a light French accent teasing his words, sharpening them, "I won't forgive you for slowing me down, Brad..."

The other man chuckled and ran a hand nonchalantly through chocolate brown hair. "You never stay mad at me and you know it," he replied.

Lucien didn't respond. He was right. He _knew _he was right. But he wouldn't admit it and would only go so far as to affirm it through his silence as he pulled the patrol car to the parking lot of the bar.

While Brad struggled briefly to untangle himself from the seatbelt and stumble out of the small car door, Lucien was already out, straightening his tie and double-checking his pistol. The young sergeant looked around for any sign of more patrol cars, waiting patiently for his little thrown-together team. He was pleased to see the glow of dual-colored lights not too far off.

That was when he heard the screaming.

The shrieks ripped through the night air, sending chills up Lucien's spine. He glanced back at Brad, his eyes wide, startled and frantic. He had to get in there. _He absolutely had to get in there._

_Alexei was in there. Someone was being killed right now, he was sure of it._

Brad met the gaze and shook his head slightly. "Lu," he started quietly and calmly, trying to sedate his friend and put out a little bit of that fire flickering behind those blue irises. "Lu, please. Wait for the others. You don't know what's in there. We'll need backup. They'll be here in a couple of sec- LUCIEN!" Brad drew his pistol and took off after his friend, who had already bolted towards that back door.


End file.
